It is common practice to install in a flowing stream debris collection apparatus for the purpose of removing trash from the stream so as to avoid such trash entering pumps, clogging screens, or otherwise interfering with or damaging downstream equipment. Examples of such trash collecting apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,804 and 5,425,875.
Trash intercepted and removed from a stream typically is discharged to a collector from which it is conveyed or otherwise transported to a disposal site. Unless the trash is compacted and dewatered, the bulkiness and weight of such trash presents problems in transporting and disposing of such trash.
Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention compacts and dewaters trash removed from a flowing stream, thereby minimizing the objectionable characteristics of transporting and compacting such trash.